The customary way of attaching steel soil reinforcing elements to the face panels for an earthen formation is by using bolts, pins or other specially shaped anchors. Geotextile reinforcing elements are typically attached to face panels by using special combs or plastic pins. All of these expedients generally rely upon connection to and the integrity of the transversely extending elements of the soil reinforcing member.
Prior systems which rely upon placing the soil reinforcing member over the tops of pins are necessarily of limited strength. Because of this, the transmission of loads to the face panels is limited. In most prior art, pin type connections, little or no strength is derived from the elongate tension members of the soil reinforcing elements; the strongest members in the elements.
Prior connections which rely upon specially shaped loop, comb or clip elements typically have the elements cast directly into the face components and require special constructions that have high material and manufacturing costs. The prior art also teaches wrapping steel or geotextile soil reinforcing members around rods and then capturing these rods between specially formed face panels for an earthen formation. Such constructions may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,324,508 and 4,616,959 by William K. Hilfiker, one of the co-inventors herein.